Submitted by Charlton Stanley (Otteray Scribe), Guest Blogger
Those who advocated for longer prison sentences failed to take the Law of Unintended Consequences into consideration. We all know that prisons have become warehouses. There are several areas where the US leads the world. We lead all industrialized nations in infant deaths the first day of life. We lead the world in illegal drug use. In addition, we lead the world in number of people incarcerated.
The US prison population is about 2.3 million, more than any other nation. Those numbers come from a global study of prisons by the International Centre for Prison Studies, London.
China is a distant second, with 1.6 million people in prison, despite a population of 1.35 billion. (NOTE: That figure does not include political prisoners in administrative detention for “reeducation.”)
The unintended consequences are an aging prison population. Perhaps the for-profit prisons did not count on that glitch in their bottom line. However, prisons at both the state and Federal level are finding themselves running geriatric nursing homes. In 2010, the last year for which we have accurate data, prisoners age 65 or over increased 94 times the rate of the total prison population in the three-year period 2007-2010. During that same three-year period, the total US prison population grew 0.7%.
At the rate we are going, by the year 2030, estimates are that almost a half-million prisoners will be elderly. Most prisons spend an absolute minimum on staffing and patient health. Private prisons find the elderly cutting into their profit margin. Problems not anticipated for younger prisoners are cropping up. What good does it do for a correctional officer to give orders to a prisoner with Alzheimer’s disease? Prisons are not designed for accommodating walkers, wheelchairs and those who may have serious age-related illnesses.
Sociologists have been studying the problem for some time, and find a multitude of reasons. One finding was that elected judges are under pressure to be “tough on crime” so they will be reelected. Drug laws are adding to the problem. Draconian sentencing guidelines, and parole boards refusing to release prisoners who are no longer a threat add to the problem. This news article has a lede photo worth seeing, with the caption that asks if the inmate shown is still a threat to society.
Several years ago, I evaluated a prisoner who was scheduled for a parole hearing in the next few days. I reviewed his chart and found he had been given a life sentence for forcible rape in 1954. He was now 83 years old and in poor health. Two correctional officers escorted him to the interview, holding him by his elbows to keep him from falling. He used a walker, shuffling slowly into my office. He was alert and responded appropriately to my questions, but was frail and obviously in marginal health. I wrote my report and in my conclusions, observed that the chances of him committing another sex offense even remotely like his original charge was zero. A few days later, I got a call from the attorney for the Parole Board. She was insistent that my report was too vague, saying that I had to guarantee he would not commit any kind of sex offense at all for him to even be considered for parole. I pointed out to her that I could not guarantee he would not pat one of the nurses at the nursing home on the behind. That was not good enough for the parole board. They denied him parole. Later, I had a chance to talk with a member of the parole board. She said the policy of the parole board was to never grant parole to a sex offender. They have to flat time their sentences, despite the fact that a parolee can be monitored and have parole revoked, whereas they lose track of those who do have determinate sentences. She was not swayed by that logic, repeating that the board will never grant parole to a sex offender, even if they are terminally ill.
The old man I had interviewed died a few months after I talked to him. He passed away quietly in his sleep, still in prison. I suppose that now I can write a report guaranteeing that he will never offend again.
This issue is a ticking time bomb for the taxpayers. No one wants to pay for taking care of elderly prisoners. When I try to talk to people about it, they tend to brush it off with the cliché, “If they can’t do the time they shouldn’t do the crime.” The ACLU estimates the cost of caring for a prisoner older than 50 years is about $70,000. It costs about $35,135 to keep an inmate under 50.
As inmates grow older, they become needier, medically and physically, driving the cost up almost exponentially. A comprehensive study just published this month by the ACLU, At America’s Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly, shows the rising incarceration rate is driven by harsh sentencing guidelines, not increasing crime. You can read the executive summary at this link. Download the full report here (PDF warning).
Is there a solution? Why does one of the most industrialized nations in the world feel the need to imprison more of its citizens than the most populous countries? Even more important, why are we imprisoning the aged and infirm?
I encourage everyone to read the links and watch the video. The ACLU study is 98 pages long and definitely worth reading. The floor is open for discussion.
“Why does one of the most industrialized nations in the world feel the need to imprison more of its citizens than the most populous countries?”
Why is the war on drugs really a war on blacks? Why do we have private prisons? Mandatory prison sentences? Why are women’s liberty interests being limited? Why are voter protections being eased and voter suppression increasing? Why is public education underfunded? Why are vouchers going to parochial schools? Why are charter schools, which are more expensive and often no more effective, in existence? Why are testing companies and book publishers in charge of standards and curriculums? Why is college so damn expensive? Why are student loans so damn expensive? Why is diversity in colleges under attack? Why are unemployment benefits being limited? Aid to needy families? Public health centers closing? Why are banks to big to fail? Why are bank fees so high? Why are wage rates so low? Why are employments benefits a thing of the past? Why were undocumented immigrants tolerated even encouraged for decades and now demonized? Why are the four Altar Boys on the Supreme Bench?
Atavism
As the lessers among us became more numerous and began climbing the ladder of success, they began competing with those who have and threatening their lofty positions and their hopes and dreams for the sons and daughters and personal empires. Their world was changing and they didn’t like it one damn bit.
Today’s policies are,among other things, responses to these challenges from the lower rungs of society. It didn’t arise from some grand scheme, but piecemeal. Successful programs giving strength and voice to all people have been curtailed; those which segregated the population and suppressed opportunities for those not in power were continued and expanded.
That’s why.
Pete9999. yea, that’s justice for you. Some hard time for the corporate principles in one of their own joints would have done more good. Kinda’ like that movie “The Super” where a slumlord is sentenced to live in his own building, only without the laughs. Or medical care, decent food, freedom to leave….
OS:
the answer to that is to get rid of the war on drugs and the 3 strikes laws or at least make them for serious crimes like murder, rape and armed robbery.
I dont think most people should be locked up for minor offenses. I also dont think the 19 year old kid selling crack on the corner should be locked up but I do think the kingpin ought to have a death sentence.
They ought to also get rid of multi-unit and cluster public housing, it is a disaster.
LK
so the idaho DOC fined corizon roughly the cost of keeping two elderly inmates.
OS, ….”square feet was just a tiny bit more than seven feet square, smaller than most average bathrooms. I asked him how he would like to live in a room that size for twenty or thirty years. The room got very quiet after that.”
*
I’d have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that discussion. 🙂
Bron,
According to the FBI’s uniform crime reporting system, crime is down. The homicide rate is projected to be lower than it has in a century. However, more people than ever are in prison, for longer sentences. Granted, there are a lot of people who should never draw a free breath again, but an awful lot of those folks locked up are non-violent and not likely to be recidivists. On this blog, there are stories almost daily of people being arrested for the flimsiest of reasons. Such as the chalk writing protester, the girl with the cans of water, or any number of others.
two other points
one, many of the people may have had foreign objects removed (bullets etc) or infections from poor dental hygiene. these tend to cause problems later in life.
two, is it fair to dump psychotic and/or alzheimers dementia patients on minimum wage geezer flipping attendants at state run nursing homes?
they might not know it’s best to keep spoons away from old chucky manson
OS:
You mean all that public housing, aid to dependent children, medicaid, SS, and many other programs dont exist? It is just a figment of my imagination?
People make it without government help all the time. In fact most people do.
A social safety net is one thing and should be part of a civilized society but taking care of an able bodied and able minded individual from cradle to grave?
“Once people become institutionalized, they have no place to go.” Or it could be paraphrased to say “people who dont work have no skills to sell.”
I think Freakanomics says there is a correlation between abortion and the drop in crime and I would guess why there are so many older inmates.
Bron,
No, it is not an indictment of the “welfare state” which in this country does not exist. It is an indictment of those who try to make sure there is no welfare state; that people should make it without government help.
LK,
Correct. Health care for older inmates is a major problem for jails and prisons. Some jails have been de-certified for lack of health care.
I was a close observer when the Federal District Court Judge William C. Keady ruled in 1972 that the state penitentiary was an affront to any reasonable standard of decency, and “unfit for human habitation.” He ordered numerous reforms. I recall there was a lot of hue and cry when Judge Keady said that every inmate should have the right to a minimum of 50 square feet of personal living space. One day I was having a conversation with several people who were griping about that. I asked the person who griped the loudest about how big a space Judge Keady was talking about. He looked around the room we were in and guessed about the size of that room, which was easily 20’x20′ in size. I reminded him that 49 was the square of seven, so 50 square feet was just a tiny bit more than seven feet square, smaller than most average bathrooms. I asked him how he would like to live in a room that size for twenty or thirty years. The room got very quiet after that.
Judge Keady also rendered opinions in very strong terms regarding inmate health care as well. I knew Judge Keady and liked him. We could use more like him now.
Gates v. Collier, 349 F. Supp. 881 – Dist. Court, ND Mississippi 1972
Gates v. Collier, 501 F. 2d 1291 – Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit 1974
OS:
“Once people become institutionalized, they have no place to go.”
Isnt that an idictment of the welfare state?
Bruce suggested:
“Stop letting them grow grey on death row! Let them out of jail the next day so the victims family can take revenge while their still pissed.”
~+~
You might find a few countries in the middle east to be more to your liking. Some allow victims’ family members such discretion. I might suggest looking into their version of justice as you might find it of similar scope to your own.
Chuck
I saw the same thing back in 1988. A fellow just released after ten years or so in prison a few weeks prior smashed out nearly all the front windows of an old Safeway store just so he could go back. Kind of sad.
nick,
Thanks. I first became acutely aware of the problem when I first started doing this work forty years ago. When they do serve their time, and get out decades after first entering the system, they have a number of problems. First of all, having been out of circulation for a major part of their life, they literally don’t know how to function in the free world. The free world has changed, and it is changing at an exponential rate, as came up in a discussion yesterday. These older ex-convicts don’t know anything about technology. They would need to be taught everything from how to use self-service checkouts to using a telephone.
Then, when an older inmate does get out, they are not in as good health, and have no idea how to access any kind of support system unless good social services are in place….which is not always the case. Additionally, family may have all died off or lost contact, so that is not there.
I know of at least one guy who would get sentenced to relatively short sentences in the local jail, then deliberately get into trouble so he could go back. The sheriff told me of an incident where this fellow had been released during the night. When the sheriff pulled up in front of his office, the former inmate was waiting for him. As the sheriff got out of his car, the man threw a brick through the front window of the sheriff’s office. The sheriff asked him why on earth he did that.
The old man replied, “Mr. Sheriff, I ain’t got no place to go, and if I stay here, I get to eat and a place to sleep and you are always good to me.”
It happens. Once people become institutionalized, they have no place to go.
Juliet, In a perfect world people would care about prisoners, or @ least their families. That will never happen, they will always be the minority. And, I’m a glass half full guy. My heart would bleed seeing little kids and wives visiting their father/husband @ Leavenworth. So, it is incumbent upon the pols we elect to care. Like everything, prisons run the gamut from vicious to humane. The warden sets the tone, just like the principal sets the tone of a school. But they both have to answer to bureaucrats higher up, and that is always the rub. If you ever commit a crime Juliet, make sure it’s a Fed crime, best prisons in the country. My wife just wrote a book you might like. It’s available on Amazon. It’s called Taken For Granted. It deals w/ murder, addiction, relationships, etc. It’s a woman’s book built on the relationship of two women who had grown apart after college but get thrown back together under the worst of circumstances. I’ve had several men tell me they like it a lot. I did, and it meant a lot to my wife because she KNOWS I am direct and honest. So is the husband in the book!
OS, Good piece, as always. Some others will be here later, they’re having a logical orgy on Paula Deen..get that vision out of your head!
Leavenworth had some real old timers. There was a guy there who was in his 70’s and had been there since he was 30 when I was was working there. Don’t worry Juliet N, it was @ the US penitentiary, not the Disciplinary Barracks just down the road. He later got transferred to Springfield. I hear Springfield is overwhelmed w/ older prisoners.
I’ll order it, now. I’m interested.
Re: Logical Orgy on Paula Deen — The mental picture that conjures is almost as horrifying as the reality. I’ve been calling it “When Nerds Argue” to my husband.
I suspect the states having parole systems could have a more immediate effect on this, especialy given that parole “should” be more individually tailored to the offender.
Yet in what Chuck had said about his particual example of a parole board of which never grants parole to sex offenders seems rather arbitrary on the board’s behalf. The legislature, in what I would speculate, does not proscribe automatic denial of parole for sex offenses, else why would there be a parole hearing to begin with. It seems to be it would be more reasonable of having a “shall grant parole” requirement if certain pre-defined and reasonable measures are present.
I disagree with the ACLU’s argument that minimum sentences should be eliminated. I believe determinate sentencing guidelines should be met. It is not reasonable and just in my view for two persons who commit the same act under the same circumstances be widely different in punishments. But, I would opin there should be a form of clemency to address the other end, that is the latter parts of the sentencing.
In WA, all felons sentenced for crimes committed after 1984(?) are under the determinate sentencing grids. But, there is a mechanism for petitioning the board of clemency for a reduction or even a pardon. The board makes its recommendation and if it agrees it may pass it to the governor who has absolute authority to accept of deny the board’s advice. The governor may also at any time commute or pardon any prisoner. It might be the fastest way to eliminate some of these non threatening elderly inmates from the system.
At the very least it would be a transfer of liability for health care costs from the state to the federal gov’t by releasing them when they are medicare and social security eligible.
Stephen re: perhaps doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
Unfortunately I have not found evidence of that in a rather far-ranging search. Medial care is a high-cost item for the prison industry and one of the first things to suffer in a already tightly budgeted enterprise, both public and private. Enclosed is a link that hits some of the high points of the problem:
…. “According to Bloomberg News, February 6, the Idaho Department of Corrections fined prison health care company Corizon more than $200,000 for failing to meet agreed-upon care to inmates. A federal court-appointed expert, Dr. Marc Stern, reported that health at Idaho’s Boise facility was “deplorable,” noting that terminally ill and long-term prisoners were left in soiled clothes and beds, unfed, and that care mistakes resulted in deaths. The court found last year that the lack of care amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” The Idaho Board of Corrections subsequently decided to extend Corizon’s contract through mid-2014.
California Healthline disclosed last month that a federal official filed a report in US District Court saying that the state is “not ready to regain oversight of its prison health care system,” citing an article in the New York Times. Six years prior, a federal judge had determined that an average of one inmate a week died in a California prison “as a result of malpractice or neglect,” and placed the health care of the state’s prison system under the eye of a federal receiver.” continues
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/20/pris-f20.html
http://www.newsmax.com/US/california-early-prison-release/2013/06/21/id/511209
Here’s a new article about a court order to release prisoners because of overcrowding